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Asian markets retreat as automakers fall, investors wait for new reading on US employment
By STEPHEN WRIGHT
AP Business Writer
(AP) 04:13:55 AM (ET), Wednesday, August 5, 2009 (BANGKOK)
Asian markets retreated Wednesday as Japanese automakers fell on Toyota's big loss and investors waited for a U.S. employment report to shed light on how quickly the world's biggest economy can recover. European markets were mostly lower.

Doubts about whether the massive rally in stocks since early March was justified by economic reality have been pushed to the sidelines as signs emerged that the global recession is easing. But gains overnight on Wall Street _ driven by reports showing a rise in consumer spending and pending home sales _ failed to translate into buying in Asia.

"The market is consolidating and little bit more cautious ... but I don't expect a pullback in coming months because the rally has been driven by liquidity and there is no shortage of money coming into stocks," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 122.48 points, or 1.2 percent, at 10,252.53 amid weakness in automakers after the world's No. 1 Toyota reported its third straight quarterly loss previous day.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 301.66, or 1.5 percent, to 20,494.77 and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.4 percent to 1,559.47. Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.2 percent, Australia's benchmark fell 1 percent and Singapore's index was off 1.9 percent. Markets in the Philippines were closed for the funeral of former President Corazon Aquino.

As trading got underway in Europe, France's CAC 40 was up 0.3 percent while Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.1 percent and Germany's DAX edged lower by 0.2 percent. Stock futures pointed to modest losses Wednesday on Wall Street with Dow futures down 41 points, or 0.4 percent, at 9,246.

Big corporations from the U.S. to Japan have reported smaller-than-expected losses or even eked out profits in the latest reporting season. New economic figures show U.S. gross domestic product shrinking at a slower pace _ a sign the worst is past.

Yet traders are growing anxious as they await the U.S. Labor Department's employment report for July due out Friday. Unemployment stands at a 26-year high of 9.5 percent and is expected to eventually top 10 percent. Investors are looking for the pace of layoffs to slow so the economy can heal.

In Tokyo trade, Toyota fell 1.2 percent despite Tuesday reporting a smaller-than-expected 77.8 billion yen ($819 million) yen loss for the April-June quarter.

"Investors were downbeat about Toyota's loss given that its rival Honda reported a profit during the quarter," said Masatoshi Sato, market analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. Ltd. in Tokyo.

Toyota trimmed its forecast of red ink for the full year but Honda in sharp contrast had raised its forecast for the full year to a 55 billion yen profit from 40 billion yen. Honda was down 1.3 percent and Nissan lost 1.9 percent.

On Tuesday, the Dow rose 33.63, or 0.4 percent, to 9,320.19. The S&P 500 index rose 3.02, or 0.3 percent, to 1,005.65, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.70, or 0.1 percent, to 2,011.31. The gains left stocks at new highs for the year.

Oil prices hovered above $71 a barrel in Asia as a weeklong rally stalled.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 38 cents to $71.04 a barrel by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract fell 16 cents to settle at $71.42.

In currencies the dollar fell to 94.98 yen from 95.23 yen and the euro rose to $1.4398 from $1.4392.

Associated Press Writer Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report.


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* This is the reaction from the reported sales loss from Toyota posted yesterday here @ RC.
The preceding paragraph says it all. Not everyone post gains the same time we do.Each market(s) reacts differently.It's tough having a global balance in the markets. Not done too often. *